PC constantly crashes shortly after boot

Question

PC froze in the middle of the game and had to be rebooted. It never booted successfully, so I have tried to re-install Windows. It kept freezing shortly after boot, to the point I couldn't even finish Windows out-of-the-box experience.

Tested both RAM sticks separately - same issue. Replaced M.2 with a brand new one, unplugged every other storage, reinstalled Windows on the fresh M.2 - couldn't finish initialisation process.

Replaced GPU with an older model - managed to finish install and collect the crash dump on the next freeze.

I am reluctant to start a BIOS upgrade on a system that can freeze in the middle of it.

Could the crash dump provide any insights? Both motherboard and the processor are still on warranty. I'd like to know which one to send.

It's a full memory dump 32Gb.

Answer 1

So you do not want to run verifier, right?

According to your last description, the problem may be hardware related.

Answer 2

It's definitely nothing to do with the drivers, because the PC never froze or blue-screened in a stable drive configuration (Single M.2 - the original system drive with fresh Windows).

I've been using it for a couple of days playing for many consecutive hours, streaming, etc. I have fully updated all the drivers (from Gigabyte and NVidia) on the new Windows install during that time, updated BIOS and Windows, then tried to add the second M.2. It froze within seconds after booting into Windows. Removed the drive - all good and stable again.

It only freezes if a second M.2 is added, even if it's a brand new one, not the data drive I had before (and was working).

Answer 3

The dump shows possible memory data corruption. Please use driver verifier to gather additional information. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/244617...

Run verifier /standard /all /bootmode resetonbootfail command, reboot PC and use it as usual (it will be slower). If blue screen happens please share memory dumps to OneDrive for analysis.

Answer 4

Here is a minidump.

Additional information: PC is stable with any of my 3x M.2 as long as only one is installed in a Gen4 slot. If a second one is added, or one is placed in Gen5 slot, PC freezes. There is additional SSD storage plugged into SATA, which doesn't affect stability.

Original configuration was 2x M.2, one of them in Gen5 slot (system drive). It worked fine for 9 months.

Motherboard: Z790 AORUS MASTER X 1.0

Original storage: 1x M.2 4Tb (system) - Gen5 slot, 1x M.2 1Tb - Gen4 slot3, 1xSSD 2Tb, 1x HDD 2Tb

Current stable storage: 1x M.2 4Tb (system) - Gen4 slot1, 1xSSD 2Tb, 1x HDD 2Tb

Answer 5

Hi Irina,

My name is Igor, it's a pleasure for me to help others and I'll try to help you.

Unfortunately, your file is very large, so it requires a log downloading. Please replace it with several minidumps.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Note, it is not recommended to share a full memory dump, some personal data may be extracted, thou this is not an easy task. Minidumps are enough in most cases.